Scrolling through Instagram, you cannot go more than five minutes before coming across an advertisement of some sort. New arrivals, ongoing sales, release dates, etc. Instagram posts and stories are one major way businesses can take part in advertising their online stores.

That is great and all, but when it comes to online shopping, how can it be ethically done with you in mind?

I write "you in mind” because everyone has their own standards of ethics of where they fall on the spectrum when buying clothes online. Either way, after you finish reading this, you will be more aware of how you can individually support businesses that make you feel good.

The first pro-tip for online shopping is using platforms like Instagram and TikTok to find your local, small, Black and Brown, young, organic, locally sourced, *fill in your wants and needs*, business.

If you are not receiving ads to businesses you would like to support, there are a few easy action steps you can use:

Most, if not all online businesses use tags when they post. To search for your newly loved shop specifically on Instagram, go to the explore page and search your various keywords, then hit Tags. Take time to browse through the different hashtags used by various influencers, people around the world, and of course, businesses.

To give you a few examples of tags you can use, start with your city and then the item you are looking for to bring up local items. If you want organic material, use keywords such as ecofriendly, vegan, organic, then the name of what you would like. I think you get the picture!

Once you find one store you like, it will be easier to find different shops! They call this the snowball effect, where once you find one, it leads you to more, and more. And trust us, there are a lot of us out there!

What should you do once you find a cool clothing store? Especially when you do not have the funds to buy things from them all.

To be honest, you do not have to buy their apparel to support them (although of course, it is the best way!). Especially if you do not have disposable income at the time. When it comes to small businesses, a large part of their business plan is getting their name out there. And, you can easily help with that!

If you see a cool business that you would love to sustain: give them a follow, like their posts, repost their posts on your story, or even better your main page. If they have a website, click around there, and if they have a subscription to receive emails, do that too. For your benefit, they will usually send you a notification that they are having various sales. So, if there was something you wanted to buy but could not, that would be your chance! On the plus side, all this is as easy as a few taps of your finger!

COVID has been a detriment to many small start-ups because it is changing the way we all shop. But, the silver lining is it can allow you to venture out and find those businesses that you may not have heard about before. COVID could be the catalysis to something greater, larger support to those businesses needing the attention. But, this cannot happen without your commitment. We at Mode Noire cannot wait to see how you use this opportunity.

With that, if you have already begun shopping small online, drop some links in the comments below, we want to all support one another.

Hope you all have a blessed rest of your day and do not forget to let your outfit motivate you!

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